Spinal fusion procedures are performed on patients to treat lower back pain caused by degenerated discs. During spinal fusion procedures, a surgeon restores a disc space back to its original height before inserting an interbody fusion device and graft material into the disc space. To accomplish this, a surgeon uses a distraction instrument to separate adjacent bones. To access the surgical site, a surgeon retracts tissue. The tissue retraction is performed by a retraction instrument that is separate from the distraction instrument.
There is a need for tools to better serve the purpose of both bone distraction and tissue retraction.